Punch card device having a fine grain cellulose sponge backing member



Oct. 30, 1962 J. BURGESS PUNCH CARD DEVICE 'HAVING A FINE GRAIN cELLULosE sPoNGE BACKING MEMBER Filed sept. 1. 1959 United States Patent Office 3,060,782 Patented Oct. 30, 1962 3,060,782 PUNCH CARD DEVICE HAVHNG A FINE GRAIN CELLULSE SPONGE BACKNG MEMBER Jackson Burgess, Mundelein, Ill., assigner to Burgess Cellulose Company, Freeport, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 1, 1959, Ser. Noa 837,479 3 Claims. (Cl. iBS-65S) This invention relates to a punch card device, and more particularly such as is employed for registering information by punching out designated scored areas thereof with a hand-held punching tool, such cards being then ready to run through electrically operated machines to collect or collate the information aiforded thereon by their punched out areas.

A signicant difficulty encountered heretofore in the use of such punch cards has resulted from the need to ascertain that every punched area has been completely removed from the card before the card is put into the tabulating machine, and that there are no partially punched areas still adhering to the card, the presence of which would interfere with the attempted tabulation.

ln a portable device of this character, for example, there is generally included a backing support for the card having upper and lower overlying margins into which the card may be slid lengthwise, being held against the backing sheet by the overlying margins. The card has a multiplicity of small scored areas, each generally rectangular,

n and arranged 1n serried vertical and longitudinal rows, any

one of the scored areas being adapted to be punched out, by a special hand-held tool provided. To facilitate such punching, it is desirable to provide an intermediate pad between the backing and the card of a resilient material, for which purpose felt or rubber has been used. An objection to felt or rubber has been found to be that a substantially larger area than the scored area being punched is depressed during the punching operation, and that, because of this, the punching operation becomes largely a tearing action, facilitated only slightly by the pre-scoring of the area. Moreover, especially in the case of rubber, the material is so resilient that when the punching tool is presed against a scored area, one side parts first from the card, and the scored area swings outward about its other side like a door and remains attached to the punch card by that one side.

ln accordance with the present invention, a sheet or flat cushion of tine-grained cellulose sponge hvmg an open cell structure over its surface is placed in contact with the back face of the card. The surface of the cushion which is to contact and support the card is cut so that the thin open cell walls will be exposed. This open cell structure, by reason of the cutting through of the original cells of the material in the slicing thereof, has a multi-parietal structure containing upstanding cell Walls dispersed over said surface, so that instead of a smooth surface in contact with the back face of the card there are a multiplicity of discrete points or cell walls which support the back of the card. As a result, when the tool is pressed against the scored area of the card, the scored area so punched compresses the call walls and causes them to recede. The -cell walls which are not so compressed continue to support the portions of card surrounding the punched area. As a result, instead of a tearing action on the area, a desirable shearing action is obtained which removes the punched out area wholly and cleanly from the card.

A further important advantage lies in the fact that, because of the upstanding discrete cell Walls of the sponge material as so constructed and arranged, when the card is slid out of the holder, along said surface of the cushion, the upstanding walls of the cells again come into play to conveniently create a drag on the back face of the card and thereby further assist in removing the scored areas by scraping them therefrom.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description, and the invention will be understood, by reference to the accompanying drawings showing an illustrative embodiment of the invention, and in which drawings- FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the device broken away to show the intermediate cellular cushion and the backing support, with the card in position to be punched;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-section of the structure of FIG. 1 taken on the line 2 2 of FIG. 1;

FIGURE 3 shows a conventional punching tool for use with the device of FIG. l;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary enlarged perspective view of a corner of the structure of FIG. 1, the tool of FIG. 3 being shown in use therewith;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on the line 5 5 of FIG. 4; and

FIGURE 6 is a section similar to FIG. 5 further enlarged to bring out detail.

Referring specifically to the illustrative embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings, the holder 11 may be of metal or plastic and includes a at stiff portion or backing sheet 12, the upper and lower margins of which overlie the sheet i2 as at 13. The holder thus provides retainer flange strips for the elongated punch card 1 4 that may thus be slid into the holder 11, from either end thereof. The margins underlie and are retained by the retainer flange strips 13', with the result that the card is held in place for operation thereon, as later described. For this purpose the card `14 has serried vertical and longitudinal rows of relatively small predetermined pre-scored areas 15 that have suitable designations or indicia thereon in accordance with punch card tabulating or information collecting practices, as is well known to the art and need not be here further described.

In accordance with the present invention, there is interposed between the backing 12 and the card 14 the intermediate resilient layer or cushion 16, that, in accordance `herewith, is formed of a cellulose sponge material cut from a larger block of such material by a slice in the plane of the cushion. The `cutting advantageously exposes the cell structure of the material over a surface of the cushion to provide upstanding walls of the cells over a surface 17 that is in Contact with the back face 18 of the card 14, these upstanding walls being best seen at 19 (FIGS. 5 and 6). The sponge material should have fine grain so that a large number of cell walls will be available for supporting the punch card at all points, and, yet, which 4may be depressed by the scored areas when they are punched out without affecting surrounding cell walls which continue to support the area of the punch card surrounding the scored area. Sponge material which has large pores would not be as effective since the desired support of the areas of the card immediately surrounding the scored areas is not assured.

The sponge cushion should preferably be thin for etlicient operation, pads having a thickness of from 1A" to 1A having been found to be very suitable.

The conventional tool 20 has a die termination 21 of rectangular form corresponding to the rectangles of the scored areas 15, which are pre-scored as at 22. Flange strips 13 as shown have an open flange portion 13a for sliding reception of the card 14 and a more closed portion 13b'which holds the pad 16 in position.

When now, as seen for example, in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, the tool 20 has its termination 21 pressed against one of the areas 15, this area is cleanly punched out as indicated by its sheared edges 23, completely removing the scored area 15 from the card. Such shearing action is of course facilitated by the pre-scoring 22 but is also, in accordance with the present invention, further insured by the open cellular structure of the face 17 of the cellulose sponge cushion 16. As seen for example from FIG. 6, the upstanding cellular walls 19a immediately adjacent the score line 22 act somewhat independently of adjacent upstanding Walls 19 of the cellular structure and support the portion of `the card 12 margining the score line 22 as at 24 (FIG. 6). Thus a sharp edge hole as at 23 is made in the card.

It is to be understood of course that as soon as the tool 20 has been used it is removed and the now punched out area 25 and other similarly punched out areas are free to fall out and be discarded.

When the card 14 has been punched as much as intended, it is then slid lengthwise out of the holder 11 and in this movement the upstanding cell walls 19 of the cellulose cushion 16 again come into play to provide a somewhat scratchy surface in contact with the back of the card that further assists in removing the punched out areas 25 from the card if any of them should still be adhering thereto.

An additional advantage of the use of the cellulose sponge material is the fact that while the cushion 16 is resilient in the sense that it will return to its original shape after being depressed, its resiliency is substantially less than that of felt or rubber for example, thus offering minimized resistance to the force of the tool 20 in the particular area 15 being punched while at the same time tending to independently support the immediately adjacent margins of the area to effect the shearing action previously described.

Thus an improved punch card device is provided that facilitates punch card tabulating or other data accumulating operations and expedites use of the card both in registering information thereon and in collecting or collating such information.

In view of constantly enhanced use of punch cards for this purpose in science and industry, for example, the invention is of marked utility.

The invention is claimed as follows:

1. A punch card device for use with a scored punch card and a punch as for example of the type having a at end, said device comprising: a stiff backing member having a relatively flat face; and a resilient cellulose sponge on said face and completely supported thereby, said sponge having a fine grain cell structure with the side opposite said backing member being defined by a cut surface to expose the walls of the cells across said opposite side, the characteristics of said sponge being such that when a card is laid across said opposite side and the porting the remainder of the card substantially in the plane of the card, and when the pressure on the sponge is removed said part will return to its initial position and a sharp edged hole is made in the card.

2. A punch card device for use with a scored punch card and a punch as for example of the type having a flut end, said device comprising: a stiff backing member having a relatively at base; and a resilient cellulose sponge on said face and completely supported thereby, said sponge having a fine grain cell structure with the side opposite said backing member having a multiplicity of upstanding thin cell walls exposed to forrn a card-contacting upper surface, the characteristics of said sponge being such that when a card is laid across said opposite side and the punch forced into the card the punch will shear out an area of the card which will be forced into the corresponding part of the sponge without severing the cell walls of the sponge, with the sponge surrounding said area supporting the remainder of the card substantially in the plane of the card, and when the pressure on the sponge is removed said part will return to its initial position and a sharp edged hole is made in the card.

3. A punch card device for use with a scored punch card and a punch as for example of the type having a flut end Whose cross section is of substantially the same shape as the scored areas of said card, said device comprising: a stiff backing member having a relatively flat face; and a resilient cellulose sponge on said face and completely supported thereby, said sponge having a line grain cell structure with the side opposite said backing member being defined by a cut surface to expose the Walls of the cells across said opposite side, the characteristics of said sponge being such that when a card is laid across said opposite side and the punch forced into the card the punch will sear out an area of the card which will be forced into the corresponding part of the sponge without severing the cell walls of the sponge, with the sponge surrounding said area supporting the remainder of the card substantially in the plane of the card, and when the pressure on the sponge is removed said part will return to its initial position and a sharp edged hole is made in the card.

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